After 48hrs of coding mobile solution 'PledgeThis*' was named the winner of the inaugural Charity App Challenge on Sunday February 3, 2012. The Charity App Challenge, a joint initiative between the Calgary Herald, Digital Alberta and Place2Give.com, brought together Calgary's technology and non-profit sectors for a hack-a-thon challenge. Local developers worked in teams from the 1-3 of Feb to build a mobile solution for this year's Calgary Herald Christmas Fund Charities.

Based on the Movember fundraiser concept, 'PledgeThis*' gives individuals the opportunity to create a fundraising challenge, for example shaving one's head, and allows people to either donate money to the challenge or join in.

"We took the kernel of the idea of Movember, people doing something interesting in return for pledges, and built a platform for that," Matt Cox, a developer on the winning team said. "It empowers people to raise money in a much more direct and engaging way than doing a traditional fun run or something of the like."

In addition to Matt Cox the 'PledgeThis*' team had three other members: Jason Thomas, Amanda Thomas and Matt Trienis. They competed against seven other teams. Second place went to Studio 6:59 with their solution 'TimeMoneyStuff'. Third place was a tie between 'Give It Up' by Mark Ehlert Flackery and 'The Charity App' by The Melon Ink. Altogether the teams took home $41,811 in prizes.

The Calgary Herald is a Canadian daily newspaper published in Calgary, Canada. The paper was first published in 1883 as The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate and General Advertiser. The newspaper is currently owned by the Postmedia Network.

The Christmas Fund provides funding annually to local charities that address the critical needs that thousands of Calgarians face every day, including hunger, homelessness, addiction and abuse. To donate to the Calgary Herald Christmas Fund visit www.calgaryherald.com/life/christmasfund/. @ChristmasFund

Digital Alberta

Digital Alberta is an industry-led organization devoted to promoting and connecting the thriving digital media community across Alberta, Canada. Through professional development workshops, advocacy work, education, event, and business development activity, Digital Alberta is building the digital media industry provincially and promoting it abroad. For more information visit www.digitalalberta.com. @DigitalAlberta

Place2Give.com

Place2Give.com was developed by Dexterity Ventures Inc., a leading developer of philanthropic automated solutions for Canadian donors. Place2Give is a donor-centered charity search engine. It provides donors with the tools they need to: search, evaluate and give to the charities that align with their passions. The site draws several public data sets, including Imagine Canada, Charity Intelligence, The Fraser Institute's Donner Award, Canada Revenue Agency and the charities themselves to provide you, the donor, with the information to make an informed charitable decision. For more information visit www.place2give.com. @Place2Give

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